Book Review: Someone To Blame By C.S. Lakin

“When you lose a child, you tumble in free fall continually, without acquittal. The ground rushes up at you, your mind frantic and disbelieving. Impending doom pulls you toward impact at dizzying speeds. But you never hit bottom. Never a reprieve from panic. Never startling awake before the moment of contact. Never breathing that sigh of relief as the wisp of nightmare dissolves and you learn you are safe, tangled in bed covers, your husband sleeping undisturbed at your side. You are always falling.”

- Pg. 8

Chapter 1 immediately snagged my attention. The words flowed with ease, purpose, and kept me on this journey of discovery. The plot was well done. The characters well developed and intriguing, typical of humanity. I could easily identify people of those personalities in my town. I could see me in that town making their mistakes. It is a classic story of love versus hate with several psychological twists.

Someone To Blame centers around Matt and Irene Moore. They moved from their town to escape the deaths of their sons—one was an accident and the other was suicide. Their daughter, Casey, becomes this angry form stomping through the pages of the book like a wind storm. All three wish to blame someone for the deaths. They blame each other. In this muddle comes a young man named Billy Thurber and in his wake a crime spree leaves the town of Breaker in an uproar. The Moore’s find curious healing in their encounters with Billy.

I read this book with the preconceived notion that it would follow a formula story. Villains in most books are easy to discover. It’s like watching a movie and the music changes when the villain enters the room. This is not the case with Someone To Blame. Everyone is blaming something or someone for whatever happened and the reader is left in the fog, questioning, turning the pages, compiling the clues, and coming to erroneous conclusions.

The writer always leaves finger prints of themselves in between the words. The emotions Irene and Matt experience of losing a child and the anger Casey exhibits makes me think the author must have experienced losing a child, too. I have never lost a child. Yet after reading this novel I feel as if I can fully understand a couple who has experienced that loss. It is deep and painful. The first half of the book is depressing leaving one to pick over the conversations and the words, thinking deeply about it for the rest of the day. On the back cover, C.K. Lakin says she has other books on the market. All are psychological suspense. It has certainly helped me look at my own novel with new eyes. While reading her book, I learned a few more things about character and plot development. Books that make me think and make 2D characters 3D always take a permanent spot in my library. It is well worth rereading over and over again. You learn about hate, love, bad choices, good choices, and scripture hits you in the face. It is an unusual love versus hate story that I would read again and again. In fact, I am going to look up her other books. If she writes this well on Someone To Blame, I can’t wait to read her other books.

Book Provided By Zondervan And The Author For Review. To order this book click here. To read more about this author, click here to explore her website.

The consequence of learning something new is going back to plot and rewrite to make sure everything is tight and powerful. I think you should read this book because you can learn alot about plotting and about how to draw up characters.

Community

Recent Posts: TRC Magazine

Our editors work full time jobs on top of their other interests. So every issue that comes from TRC Magazine is not without sacrifice. Would you consider donating? Each of us on staff work at jobs in the non-profit, music, or green energy fields. Every day we walk our faith, and financial encouragement would greatly help. Financial encouragement could come from donating at our gofund site. If you wanted to help each individual’s personal interests, other places to donate would be to the following: Pastor…

Does the title of this column seem a bit risqué? Well, it could be but read on to find out what it’s really all about. Marriage is a very strong yet fragile bond. That makes it somewhat of a paradox. I’m guessing all husbands and wives enter into marriage with the intent of staying true to their vows, but eventually real life breaks in. What started out as a strong union can begin to unravel, and that’s when it becomes fragile. Many couples manage to…

Christmas is a busy time of year for most people. Ours was no exception–Work, family, friends, church, music…..lots of music…and food everywhere. It was wonderful! On top of that, we were working on a huge project which has demanded a huge chunk of our already precious time. Now, here it is January, and I am not ready for 2015! This edition is “light” on the articles in the music section. But, don’t worry, things are already in the works for the April edition. I am…

Kristine McGuire writes regularly here. This former Wiccan, “Christian Witch,” is a source people should pay attention to when considering topics like Wicca or, in this case, Spiritual Warfare. An Insider’s Guide to Spiritual Warfare delves into a little of Kristine’s testimony and is heavy with the scripture. This lends credibility to her authority in walking us through the battlefield. I read this while away at a WorldVenture Renewal Conference so spiritual warfare is what I experienced. She talks about false Gospels (which deeply resonates…

AMORE SALVATORIS (Love of the Savior) Adorned in gown of flowing righteousness, She treads the aisle on the arm of Grace; While Faith, her bridesmaid, in the front keeps pace, She thinks upon His calling’s soft caress. She sees the Groom, with hand outstretched, in place, And looks upon the scars that are no less Than on the day He sealed her righteousness. Rejoice! for now she sees her Savior’s face. Tweet or Facebook this Poem: Alyssa shares another beautiful poem @TRCMagazine http://wp.me/p3xNWC-tJ

In May, my husband and I traveled to Honduras with six other people for International Teams. It wasn’t an evangelism trip. Michelle Crotts runs a camp for disabled children. Teams usually bring supplies and money for supplies in order to improve the camp experience for the children, schools, and women who regularly use the camp.